Sarah Harmer at Sydenham United Church

I wasn't sure what to expect from the show because it was Sarah and her new acoustic band, she had just released a more bluegrass, folky album called I am a Mountain, and, well, it was in a church. I've been in many churches in my lifetime for various reasons (never for confessions as I have never done anything not virtuous in my life) but I had never been there for a concert. I imagined that the acoustics would be good but I didn't know how the seating would be. Would it feel like a wedding or like mass? Or neither. The Sydenham United Church has a semi-circular arrangement so that everyone had a great view of the musicians. There was even room for fans to sit down in front of the band and for toddlers to explore. The acoustics were nice and crisp and Sarah was in good form. She played a nice mix of songs from all her albums. Accompanied by Jason Euringer on the Standing Bass, Spencer Evans on clarinet/accordion/piano, Julie Fader on vocals and Keyboard, as well as other musicians on guitar/mandolin and a violinist whose name escapes me (my apologies), the band clearly enjoyed playing with each other and Sarah threw them for a loop a couple of times by choosing to play songs that were not on the setlist. That spontaneity really gave the show an intimate feel. On top of the songs from her albums, Sarah also covered a Shins tune and a John Hiatt tunes and gave it her own treatment.

The only thing to reproach Sarah was how long it took her to play Lodestar, which I believe is the best song that has ever been composed, by ANYONE (including Nena). In fact, I'm pretty sure that if it weren't for my friend Gregg Day requesting her to play "Lodestar for Tuan Bui", we might not have been blessed by this song. But she delivered and we were appeased. Gregg Day, by the way, is happily married to Larissa and that song has no autobiographical meaning between the both of us. Just thought I'd clear that up.

In the end, what impressed me most about the show was how much fun Sarah was having and the audience was clearly aglow from the show.